On the Modelling of the Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) Uplink Scheduler

Abstract

Packet scheduling has drawn a great deal of attention in the field of wireless networks as it plays an important role in distributing shared resources in a network. The process involves allocating the bandwidth among users and determining their transmission order. In this paper an uplink (UL) scheduling algorithm for the Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) network based on the cyclic polling model is proposed. The model in this study consists of five queues (UGS, ertPS, rtPS, nrtPS, and BE) visited by a single server. A threshold policy is imposed to the nrtPS queue to ensure that the delay constraint of real time traffic (UGS, ertPS, and rtPS) is not violated making this approach original in comparison to the existing contributions. A mathematical model is formulated for the weighted sum of the mean waiting time of each individual queues based on the pseudo-conservation law. The results of the analysis are useful in obtaining or testing approximation for individual mean waiting time especially when queues are asymmetric (where each queue may have different stochastic characteristic such as arrival rate and service time distribution) and when their number is large (more than 2 queues).